Martial Minute: Combat Archery

Archery has been a prime component of the combat arts since people have been people. In this week's Martial Minute, The Atienza family show us how their family blend of archery can be brought into the modern age with the use of current technology.



Regards,
Walt

Ashcan Edition: Dominus

Dominus (Azrael Dominus)

(Supernatural Metahuman, known by General Public, Ruler of Marazul)

M:30 C:20 B:30 F:30 I:30 A:20 W:20

Damage:110, Fortune:80, Lifestyle:75, Rep:0

Powers:

Immortality:Dominus is immune to aging, disease, and can heal from any wound, however he can still be hurt and incapacitated. Bringing Dominus' Damage and Fortitude to 0 will effectively kill him. At this point, unless he is impaled or receiving a constant stream of damage he will begin to regenerate and reanimate.

Armor: Dominus wears armor made of power rank 40 material that conveys the following abilities.

Armor (40)

Flight (20)

Life Support: Dominus is protected from Pressure, environment (including lack of air and the presence of toxins), and radiation while in his armor.

The Way of Triad Sight: Dominus is extremely talented in the Arcane Arts and has the ability to work magic at power rank (50). This allows him a vast variety of powers at his disposal. His most common castings include:

Power Bolt: Energy generation

Power Shield: Force Field

Ghost Walk: Phasing

Eagle Walk: Teleportation

Skills: Knowledge:Arcane (I), Bio-engineering (I), Engineering (I), Leadership (I), Military (I), Martial Arts (M),

Background: Azrael Dominus is part of an ancient race who came to earth to conquer. Although he and his kind spread terror over the ancient world, it was the people of the Middle East that gave him the name, Azrael, The Angel of Death. As culture after culture fell under his heel, it looked as though Azrael and his kind would rule over mankind.

Unknown to the invaders, an ancient race had already taken residence on Earth and had looked fondly on the race of man, The Atlanteans. With legions of troops and technologies that dwarfed human understanding, the Atlantean war machine stormed out of the ocean to drive out the hellish invaders. One by one Dominus' people were either captured or killed by the might of Atlantis.

The true extent of the final battles are lost to the oceans of time, however, it was certain that Dominus was captured and imprisoned. Their victory in hand, the Atlanteans withdrew back to their nation to let the race of man make his way in the world.

Throughout the millennia, Dominus called across the ages to anyone who would listen. Although there were many promising attempts to free him, his liberation came in the present age. A young boy with amazing mental abilities heard his calls from the ether and decided to listen. Throughout his youth, Dominus guided and tutored the youth until he became a titan of industry. Using his wealth, Brian Takashi, sought out the mystic prison and shattered its seals. Dominus strode into the world with a terrible purpose. He would be the lord and master of this world and crush the ancestors of his enemies.

To this purpose, he raised the island of Marazul in the southern Pacific near the nation of Indonesia. He has taken in many of the undesirables of the world and turned them into a driven people. At his side, Brian Takashi, the man who granted Dominus his freedom, now serves as his Minister of Security under the guise of Shogun 0. Only Takashi is aware of his true origins as the rest of the world sees him as a powerful despot. From his new nation he plots and waits for a time to strike.

Identifying Quote: "I am Dominus... you are finished!"

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Martial Minute: Nova Scremia

For this week's Martial Minute, We deviate from the normal flavor of Asiatic Martial Arts and go for the Western. Nova Scrimia is a time tested art form that mixes elements of fist, blade, and stick to form a fantastic martial blend. People familiar with the Martial Arts of the Philippines will recognize much from this art as Filipino Arts draw heavily from Spanish Fencing for some of their technique. Enjoy:



And for some of the hand to hand elements:






Regards,
Walt

Ashcan Editions: Shogun 0

Shogun Zero (Brian Takashi)

(Psionic, unknown to the general public)

M:10 C:10 B:20 F:20 I:20 A:20 W:40

Damage:60, Fortune:80 Lifestyle: 50 Rep: 0

Powers:

Telepathy (50): Shogun is a powerful telepath and always uses his ability to read the minds of those around him.

Mind Control (50)

Combat Awareness (30)

Warlord Armor: Takashi knows that his "minions" can sometimes be traced back to him. For this reason, he created his Warlord Armor for use in "operations" where raw psychic ability would not be enough.

Trait Boost: Shogun's armor boosts his physical ability. His normal stats are M:6 C:6 B:10 F:6 I:20 A:20 W:40

Psi-Boost: The armor can also "ride the signal" of active satellites to transmit Shogun's psychic abilities across the globe.

Psycho-blast (30):Takashi can power psychic rotors inside the armor by charging it with mental energy. He can then shoot a concentrated wave of force.

Flight (10)

Armor (20/10): The armor provides power rank 20 protection against physical attacks and rank 10 against energy attacks.

Skills: Pyschiatry (I), Business (I), Engineering (I)

Background: Brian Takashi was a boy when he first started hearing voices that weren't there. It was some years before the lad figured out they were the thoughts of the people around him. His parents sent him to an isolated monastery in upstate California to be away from people and learn to control his power. While in seclusion, he managed to learn to tune out all the voices except one. The Voice he could hear belonged to no one he could see and whispered promises of power and destiny.

Some years later, Brian had graduated at the top of his class and began to work at a technology company. He fell in love with a young co-worker and the two intended to marry. He caught her having an affair with one of his managers and was grief stricken. The mysterious voice he had heard all those years ago spoke of revenge and how to take it. Using his powers to ruin the lives of his betrayers, this would be the event that solidified his persona as Shogun Zero as well as giving himself to the Voice.

Many more years passed, having witnessed to the rise in power of Brian Takashi as CEO of Omnisci, a massive corporate machine that creates everything from powerful government computers to electric toothbrushes. His corporate facade hides the truth that Brian Takashi is really Shogun Zero, a criminal mastermind that has been secretly building his power. Hidden in corporate shadow, Takashi has amassed wealth, contacts, favors, and using his powers, sleeper agents all over the world.

For now, Shogun Zero and his organization, The Scion's Fist, has been content with black market sales of technology, corporate espionage, and assassination. Only Shogun Zero knows his true goals, as dark and sinister as they may be...

Identifying Quote: "I am the voice of your destiny..."

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Oh My Aching Face!

For those that have not been following at home, HAZARD Studio is doing a weekly series of releases up to the month of December.

The Series is called Ashcan Edition and will be the pilot for a quarterly series that will be released for free on the web. The basic premise of the posts will allow a weekly posting of a piece of an adventure for the superhero Genre. Each week another piece will be released to add to the puzzle of the adventure. On the final week, the PDF will drop at fine E-tailers everywhere. The completed and compiled adventure will contain all the characters and encounters from the web series. They will be updated with full color art as well as stats to allow you to use the adventure with your favorite game system of choice.

To commemorate our first bite at this apple, HAZARD is taking any proceeds that we make and donating it to the Toys for Tots charity.

In other news... My dentist is an idiot. While I was away I found out my dental work that i had done is faulty and ALL of has to be redone. Grrrrr! In any case, I am missing a tooth, High on Novocaine, and just waiting around to take some pills. Wish me luck.

Best Regards,
Walt

Martial Minute: Jogo Du Pao

This weeks version of the Martial Minute comes from Portugal. A game of sticks, Jogo du Pao is one of those martial arts that has little exposure outside of the martial arts community but looks like a LOT of fun...



Regards,
Walt

Ashcan Editions: Raid

Raid (Quinton Davis)
(Super Human Criminal, Publicly known, Secret ID)

M:10 C:20 B:10 F:10 I:20 A:6 W:10
Damage:50, Fortune:36 Lifestyle:40

Powers:
Phantom Blast (50): Quinton’s body constantly emits a sickening radiation that does power rank (10) damage to anyone or anything within 1 sector. He wears special Regulator Gauntlets that allow him to focus and control this power. While wearing them, his body no longer emits the radiation and he can control the energy to devastating effect. The gauntlets are made of power rank (50) material and allow him to emit blasts of rank (50) effect.

Flight (30): Raid’s gauntlets can also harness his power to propel him in flight.

Phasing (50): Altering his physical state to a form of pure energy, Raid can become insubstantial and pass through solid matter. This ability is very taxing and he can only hold it for 5 turns (He can double the duration if he makes a Fortitude roll and scores a blue result. Failing the roll means that he instantly reverts back to solid and suffers the material strength damage of whatever he is inside when he rematerializes.). After Phasing he must make a successful Fortitude test or have to rest for 3 turns.

Equipment:
Flexi-Strike Armor (5)
Earbud communicator (5 mile range)

Skills: Aerial Combat (C), Power Skill: Phantom Blast (C), Robotics (I)

Background: Quinton Davis was an electrical engineer specializing in robotics. Hard working and driven, Davis began working on a new Quantum Artificial Intelligence alongside his partner Eric Lawson. Davis recognized the genius of his partner and took a back seat in many of the designs and decisions of the project. During a test of the new AI drive, a malfunction threatened the lab and the only working prototype they had been able to construct. Rushing in, Davis saved the drive but his exposure to extra dimensional energies transformed his molecular structure.

Lawson immediately brought in the best specialists in the country to work on Davis’ condition in an attempt to cure him of his affliction. While doctors and scientist pondered returning him to normal, Lawson constructed the Regulators to allow him to once again rejoin society until a cure could be found.

Spending weeks in an isolation chamber did nothing to improve Davis’ mood. He began to resent his friend for “handing” him a back seat in the project as well as not being exposed to the life altering event. Receiving the Regulators only worsened Davis’ foul mood as he saw it as his “friend” showing him up and flaunting his genius. Davis escaped the lab where he had been made to live and stole the Quantum AI Prototype. Using his new powers he staged several raids on local banks and armored cars in order to finance his new life. Now considering himself a criminal mastermind, Raid has no compunction about stealing what he needs to keep himself comfortable, well trained, and to continue his research.

Identifying Quote:”Only a fool would fight a ghost! “






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It's Wednesday and I smell .... COMBAT!

For this weeks Martial Minute I thought a little tactical application was in order. James Williams teaches a variation of an old Japanese Martial art. When not doing this... He takes his knowledge and mixes it with knowledge of Russian Systema Fighting and tactical military applications to form his "System of Strategy."

Enjoy



Regards,
Walt

Ashcan Editions: Freefall

Welcome to Ashcan Edition… Hazard Studio’s attempt to repopulate the net with super powered heroes and villains for use in the MARVELous new 4C RPG System.

Freefall (Jason Ramirez)

(Mutant, known to the general public)

M:10 C:20 B:10 F:30 I:10 A:20 W:30

Damage:70, Fortune:60

Powers:

Hyper-Shield (Force Field (50)) The same shield that Freefall creates to fly also protects him from harm. The shield is only visible when it is struck and creates a ripple effect.

Flight (50) Freefall has the power to create a telekinetic shield that covers his entire body. This provides him with the ability to fly amazingly fast. Freefall moves by psychically moving the shield.

Limitation: Linked Power: Freefall’s power of flight is linked to his ability to create his Hyper-Shield. If someone can overload the shield by soaking it with damage this will short out his power of flight as well. At this point, falling from the sky has the same effect on Freefall that it has on everyone else. If he can manage to get the shield back up (See 4C rules page 14 for details on Force Fields) it will protect him from the falling damage up to his power rank if he can’t pull up.

Thumpers (20): Freefall carries twin pistols he has affectionately called Thumpers. He uses an armor piercing round that reduces armor by 2 RS for purposes of “to hit” and damage. Each pistol does 10 points of damage.

Skills: Security (I), Military (I), Aerial Combat (C), Firearms (C)

Background: Jason Ramirez was everything a mother could want in a son. He was bright, helpful and wanted the approval of his family. Unfortunately, he was born a mutant with the ability to psychically project force fields as well fly. At an early age it was hard to control this gift and his family had a hard time adjusting to his “condition.” Ostracized by their community and local religious leaders, Jason left home at an early age to find his fortune away from the narrow minded folks of his neighborhood. At the age of twenty, he was recruited by the CIA who wanted him and his “special talents” to reach their maximum potential. Of course, if he reached his potential working black operations that would be great. After several years of dedicated service, Jason was “black listed” after a deal for information he was brokering lost the approval of the oversight committee. Hoping that he would be killed by his counterparts, The CIA turned their back on him and closed his file.

Jason turned up two months later in Los Angeles where he attacked a federal building and hacked into a computer system to download his file. Calling himself Freefall, he rushed the building and took down several of the guards before diving off the roof of the sixtieth floor. Since that incident he has attacked several government installations across the United States in an effort to find out who burned him and why. He would like nothing more than to clear his name and bring the people who wronged him to justice. Freefall is ready to test how much the law has to be broken to bring those in power to justice.

Identifying Quote:“Time for a little payback!”

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